


Magicians Meta Essays

by Lierdumoa



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Meta, Multi, Other, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, but perhaps it will inspire some!, not fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 00:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17929622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lierdumoa/pseuds/Lierdumoa
Summary: I'm posting my show meta here -- starting off with insights on the psychology behind Quentin and Eliot's behavior, but I'll add more tags as I explore more topics.Note: All fan meta is welcome on AO3. The board voted to approve the inclusion of meta posts back in 2013. However, if you'd rather not read meta, you can easily filter posts tagged as meta from your searches.





	Magicians Meta Essays

**Author's Note:**

> Some of my essays will be focused on character motivations/character psychology, while others will address social justice topics like biphobia and compulsory heterosexuality as they relate to the canon/fandom. 
> 
> I prefer to write meta with a more conversational tone. I think meta is more accessible that way. I mean, nobody actually likes reading high school book reports do they?

Okay so one of my favorite storytelling techniques is when canon reveals a secret or missing scene that forces the audience to re-think how they perceive a significant portion of the canon.

And obviously 4x05 "Escape from the Happy Place" forces us all to re-think Quentin and Eliot's motivations over the last season.

The first scene I thought to reinterpret is the scene where Quentin's talks to his dad in 3x12 "The Fillorian Candidate." Quentin tells his dad that he's on a quest to bring magic back, and discusses the possibility that doing so may bring back his dad’s cancer. Quentin's dad asks him, “So, are you here to ask my permission?” and Quentin replies, “On this quest, I’ve lived a whole life. I grew old, and I got married, and I had a son -- who grew old. And what was all that for if it’s not for this?”

That's a completely different state of the mind from the one Quentin was in when he first got his memories back, and he asked Eliot to be with him. Prior to Eliot's rejection, Quentin wasn't asking, "What was all of that for?" -- he viewed the quest was its own reward. Quentin didn't spend a lifetime with Eliot to get a key. Quentin spent a lifetime with Eliot _to spend a lifetime with Eliot_. And he wanted to do it _again_.

But as far as Quentin knows, Eliot didn't -- doesn't -- want to do it again. Eliot basically told Quentin that he didn't even want to do it in the first place. Of course Eliot only said that to disguise the depth of his own feelings. But it's easy for Quentin to believe Eliot doesn't want him, because it matches what Quentin's inner insecurities and sense of self-loathing have been telling Quentin his whole life.

And if that's how Eliot feels, then their lifetime together can't be its own reward. It has to have been for a higher purpose.

.

In the next episode, Quentin decides to sign himself over to an eternity in hellprison being the Monster’s guardian. He makes a speech informing the squad of his decision. When his friends try to argue with him about the decision, he turns to Alice and says, “Alice, who’s the one that died for us?” 

Then he turns to Eliot and says, “You were willing to stay in Fillory forever. How is this different?”

At the time the episode first aired, I just assumed he was talking about Eliot marrying Fen. But he wasn’t just talking about Eliot marrying Fen, was he? 

During the missing scene, Eliot told Quentin that he was only ever with Quentin because he didn’t have a choice. And that was the statement that made Quentin give up. That was the statement that made Quentin curl in on himself in shame, and _apologize_ for daring to ask even more of Eliot than Eliot had already given.

Quentin genuinely believes that signing the rest of his existence away to a creature that lives to consume and destroy is "only fair." Quentin sees this sacrifice as an opportunity to make reparations for the sacrifice he believes Eliot has made on his behalf. 

When Quentin asks Eliot, "How is this different?" he's asking Eliot, "How is this different from you staying with me? You sacrificed an entire lifetime stuck in a relationship you didn’t want -- with me. _For_ me. So I'll sign my life away to a monster, because that's what you did for me, isn't it? That’s what our relationship was for you, right? You giving, and me taking? You feeling trapped, and me getting everything I wanted?"


End file.
